Division 3 South Softball: GNB Voc-Tech romps at Diman

FALL RIVER — Diman Voke committed three of its seven errors in the fifth inning and the floodgates opened from there as visiting GNB Voc-Tech broke open a tight game en route to an 11-2 Division 3 South Sectional quarterfinal softball victory over the Bengals on Sunday.

FALL RIVER — Diman Voke committed three of its seven errors in the fifth inning and the floodgates opened from there as visiting GNB Voc-Tech broke open a tight game en route to an 11-2 Division 3 South Sectional quarterfinal softball victory over the Bengals on Sunday.

The 15th-seeded Bears will play the Millis/Nantucket winner Tuesday night at Taunton High School at a time to be determined.

Leading 2-1 over the 10th-seeded Bengals, the Bears scored twice in the fifth on one hit to build a 4-1 cushion.

With one out in the fifth, GNB Voc-Tech catcher Jen Pires walked and was replaced by courtesy runner Emily Mulvey.

Krystin Sylvia hit a routine grounder to third, but the throw to force Mulvey at second sailed into the outfield as Mulvey raced over to third. Diman's overthrew third base in another attempt to catch Mulvey, who came around to score the third run after Diman's third baseman was called for obstruction.

Holly Roy then blooped a single to score Sylvia to make it 4-1.

The Bengals committed three more errors in the sixth as the Bears batted around the order and tacked on six more runs to put the game away.

"A little shift in momentum can sway the game," said GNB Voc-Tech coach Mark Collins. "Without a doubt, that (obstruction) call changed the complex of the game. We capitalized on it."

Both teams struck early with the Bears scoring first on a run-scoring single by Sylvia in the opening inning.

Diman quickly responded when Brynn Pasternak tripled off freshman pitcher Neely Eddleston and came around to score on a single by Kat Rachel to tie the game.

Sylvia drove in another run in the third inning off Diman pitcher Hailey Levesque with a sacrifice fly that gave the Bears the lead for good. That run was also unearned.

"We didn't physically do what we needed to do defensively," said Diman coach Cathie Noversa. "We had four freshmen in our lineup today.

"Offensively, we put the ball in play. We had second and third with no outs and couldn't get a run in."

The Bears strung together three straight hits, including a leadoff triple by Rileigh Avila, to open the sixth. The finished with five hits in the frame and built a 10-1 lead.

Diman added its other run in the bottom of the sixth when Rachel doubled home Marissa Matias, who led with a bunt single.